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For Immediate Release |
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LOCAL
MUSIC NEWS COLUMN
by Tom Lounges SALAMANDERS
TO SLITHER AT SOPRANOS… Valparaiso’s Daryl
Grady was considered one of the region’s best alternative
vocalists back in the 1990s, while fronting the original band, Desdinova.
When they disbanded four years ago, Grady disappeared from
scene.
“This band is just about playing songs we always wanted to cover but were too busy doing our own songs to do,” explained Grady. Among the songs in their repertoire are -- Pearl Jam’s “The Brain of JFK,” The Posies’ “Grant Heart,” and “No One Knows” by Queens Of The Stone Age. Midwest BEAT will have
Salamander Drake open the show at our “Modern
Rock Showcase Night” at Soprano’s in Griffith on September
20th. Also on
the triple band bill will be local recording artists Emitter
and Closed World. Come and support these fresh local groups! POINTE
EAST FANS & BANDS TO REUNITE…
The Pointe East,
arguably the South Side’s greatest local rock venue ever, closed
it’s doors in 1983. On October
18, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the club’s closing, Midwest
BEAT Magazine will host a “Pointe
East 20th Reunion Bash,” at Second
Dimensions in Schererville, IN just ten miles down the road from
the actual site of the original club.
Psssst… Along with performing a good deal of the hit songs he has written for Ides of March, Survivor, .38 Special, REO Speedwagon and others… Jim Peterik is going to be debuting a handful of new songs from his brand new rock group, Pride Of Lions. Joining Peterik on stage to perform those songs will be Pride Of Lions vocalist, Toby Hitchcock. REGION
RUMBLE DEADLINE DRAWS NEAR… HEY BANDS!
The time is running short...the deadline for getting your
demos/kits in to us for consideration to take part in this year’s
annual “Midwest BEAT Region Rumble” at the Star Plaza Theatre is September
20! All styles of
music are considered. The Rumble itself
happens at the award-winning Merrillville concert hall on Sunday, November 23. For details on the
event, the requirements, the rules, etc... log on to our website -- www.midwestbeat.com
-- and click on the “Region Rumble” icon on our home page. MELLENCAMP
ROCKS CMT-TV…
Mellencamp fans should make sure they tune in early that night, for at 7 p.m. Central the Hoosier rocker will be the subject of “CMT Inside Fame,” where he will share intimate stories on his career and personal life. Hey John ‘ol
buddy...don’t forget it was this writer who hailed you in the local
headlines as “The James Dean
of Rock ‘n’ Roll” back in 1980, before you broke big... ROCKIN’
WITH ROYALTY… Yours truly had a
blast as the stage emcee for the X-ROCK
103.9-sponsored stage at Porter County Fair this August…
I got to catch some great shows, eat a lot of great (albeit
unhealthy junk food) and rub elbows with some royalty of sorts. After trading in my Midwest
BEAT colors for those of my X-ROCK
Radio gig, I joined X-ROCK’s
long reigning news queen Laura
Waluszko on stage, along with the 2003 Fair Queen to welcome Creedence Clearwater Revisited to the Region.
Prior to the show,
Laura and I, along with X-ROCK Program Director Scotty
Rosenberg, took some lucky X-ROCK
listeners to the meet ‘n’ greet tent to get some photos,
handshakes and autographs from the band. BAND
BITS… • Speaking
of local rock icons on national television, Rockford’s Cheap
Trick will perform some of their new songs on “The Late, Late Show with Craig Kilborn” on
September 15.
The monies raised will
be used to help Alyssa Kent
who has leukemia and who has recently undergone a bone marrow
transplant. Alyssa
is the niece of Mac Kent and LW Kent of
the M.C.B. •
A benefit concert featuring a ton of local bands will be held
on September 27 from 1pm to
Midnight at the Hammond Civic Center.
Dubbed “Millennium
Music Fest,” the event will raise money for 12-year-old Jaime
Cox, who has a liver disorder.
On the bill are -- Trauma,
Tamallicka, Autumn Dawn, Portrait Of Shadows, The Crawpuppies, Inzane,
Chemical Lights, Drena Reign, The Heavies, Chump Change and Psychomancer. More
info: (219) 962-6563. •
Sometimes it is amazing just how fast musicians jump in and out
of bands. Before even
performing one live set with his new band Trauma,
lead singer Jef Sarver is
reportedly out of the band. Sarver was replacing former Trauma
vocalist Jason Fosnaugh, who quit last month to join up with Michigan City
hard rock band, Killjoy.
Former Reality
Check singer, Kevin Benson,
is now behind the microphone for Trauma and doing a great job! •
Local classic rockers, Bittersweet,
have added guitarist Jeff
Jozwiak and drummer Eddie
Montoya to their line-up. Montoya
is a Texas club veteran who recently relocated to Chicago.
Jozwiak, also of Chicago, is a 25 year veteran who has done
session work for international blues label, Delmark Records, and
toured with Byther Smith, Buddy
Guy and Junior Wells.
They replaced guitarist Dan
Kurzydym and drummer Bill
Fisk, respectively. •
Regional classic rock trio, Midnight
Mass, have a new butt sitting on their drum throne these days.
Transplanted Floridian, “Jammin’
Jeff” Wolf, also the owner of Griffith’s Black
Dog Studio, is now the band’s beat keeper.
•
Local saxophonist Ben
Mollin (ex-Wolcott) has
doubled his and our musical pleasure by joining the ranks of the
regional modern rock group, Duct
Tape Mustache. Mollin
describes that band’s experimental original music as being akin to Frank
Zappa meets Mr. Bungle.
Mollin will continue as a full time member of longtime local
funk band, The Glow. For
more info, log on: www.ducttapemustache.com • One
of my favorite Chicago songwriters -- Michael
McDermott -- will perform on a co-headline bill along with Big
John Howell & The Born To Boogie Band on October
10 at the Radisson Hotel Ballroom at the Star Plaza in
Merrillville.
The 6pm to Midnight event -- which includes
food station access with paid admission -- is an annual fundraisier
for the Lake County Library Foundation.
Yours truly will be there with my wife Julie
and daughter Sarah to help
the local library folks, while enjoying a great night of live local
music. Please join us!
For more info or to purchase tickets, call: (219)
769-3541 exts. #315 or #317.
Henrich & Western
Haze represented Northwest Indiana at the Indiana State Fair in
Indianapolis on August 16, where they took third place.
•
Northwest Indiana’s eclectic jam sextet -- Groovatron -- came home last month from what has been a seemingly
endless tour of the U.S. this past year. The plan was to rest and write material for for their next studio album,
so they would have fresh songs to take on the road in 2005.
But Groovatron just can’t seem to slow down... They have 13
dates booked over five states in September. Hopefully,
the proposed new songs will be written on the road so a new CD will
get to us in the not too distant future. Check ‘em out online at: www.groovatron.com •
Regional modern rockers, Emitter,
recently returned from Nashville where they recorded four new
originals with producer Jonathan
Smith (dc talk, Adrian Belew,
etc.) for what will be an internet only release at: www.emitteronline.com
The band’s new song, “White
Trash Town,” already been getting a fair share of radio play
from both college and commercial stations, like Indianapolis’s WZPL-FM. At press time,
the song had been topping the request list at Louisiana’s Q93-FM for four consecutive weeks. •
Americana music artist, Karen
Banks-Lubich, was recently spied mastering her latest CD over at Thunderclap
Studios facility with owner/engineer John
Carpenter. The Chicago singer/songwriter’s new disc is a rootsy
collection of original children’s songs aptly titled, “Karen
For Kids.” • A
new local band compilation CD was just released by Chicago-based “Hostage
Radio” – WPNA-AM/1490.
The 11-song album includes original cuts by such homegrown rock
artists as –– My Left Arm,
Rock Star Club, I Decline, Ripley Caine and Velvet Sun. More info
online at: www.hostageradio.com/
Meanwhile, My Left Arm,
recently completed their brand new full length CD at Chicago’s
Engine Studios with former Red,
Red Meat member, Brian Deck
producing (Liz Phair, Modest
Mouse, etc.) Listen
to MP3 sound files on the band’s website at: www.myleftarm.net •
“Jingle Bells, Jingle
Bells, jingle all the way...” It’s
not too early to be singing that tune according to Chicago-based Alligator Records, who just released their 16-song holiday CD, A
Genuine Houserockin’ Christmas.
The blues disc includes 14 songs written especially for this
release, featuring such artists as Chicago’s own Koko
Taylor, Lil’ Ed & The
Blues Imperials and Lonnie
Brooks, among others. •
In closing...I would like to wish a very happy life and
marriage to my good buddy Hana
“Babydoll” Hall, who became Mrs.
Ryan Satka as this issue was going to press.
Hana was a one-time intern with Midwest
BEAT in the mid-to-late ‘90s!
Best of luck to you Ryan
and Hana!
Hope to see you ALL
partying with us on September 20 at Soprano’s!!
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The
singer surprised this columnist with a recent email announcing his
return, as the lead singer of a new all cover band called, Salamander
Drake.
For
more info on this event, which will feature performances by JIM
PETERIK (of Survivor and Ides Of March), the reunited original
line-up of M&R RUSH and
SHUDDUP & DRIVE... check out “The Soapbox” column of this issue. 
Seymour,
Indiana’s famous son, John
Mellencamp, will be paired with country star Kenny
Chesney on “CMT’s
Crossroads,” a music program that teams up country stars with musicians
from other genres.
